Show us your formicariums and ant setup, ask formicarium-related questions, or share your experiences with building an ant home. Here you will also find formicarium requirements for specific ant species.

Hi, Im building my very first formicarium for my queen and I would like to ask, what plants can I use. Do they need to be ant-friendly or something like that? Another question, I personaly like to make my island for ants ( inspired by Island of Avista) like desert, so I would like to choose some Aloe plants and stones and for substrate mixture of dirt and sand, but Im woried that my ants will not survive in this "biome" because I live in Central Europe so we have forests and meadows all around, no sand, just dirt and grass. Will they still make colony in completely different biome than in which I catched the queen? If not, can you recommend me some plants that are ants friendly and from our biome? Thank you very much

Well I am sure the ants do not even know the answer to that question. Think about it, this is their first colony after all, they have no real preferable biome, all they know in the test tube you have them in.

I actually use bathing sands for rodents for my base on temp outworlds. And my ants love it, they have even made little hills and beds for relaxing in.
For my Myrmica, both queens decided they like that better then the test tubes so I had to start watering the sand to make it better for tunnels and moisture, I do leave the test tube with them all the same.

I live in Ireland so desert lands do not exist here but the ants have taken to a desert aspect as though they came from it. It is always worth a try, I have 3 starter Lasius Niger colonies all I caught as queens. Well I have more but them 3 I am keeping for me. 1 will have an AC formicarium when I can get it, and the other two will have none Irish experimental landscapes to see how different environments (nothing harsh) effect their colony growth. I am thinking of keeping a 4th and making a wildish colony in my back garden after making a nice area for them to thrive.

I will admit I am looking forward to the research ahead of me for these ants.

Dono what I'll do for my Myrmica queens as they are currently believed to be 2 different species and they don't like one and other much so they had to be separated. One is definitely Rubra and I think the other is Ruginodis.

Research is important before during and even after you have established a colony. There is always time to learn and to listen to others experiences. Live by this and your ants will thrive. Fail to do so and your experience may be brief.

I agree with hunter. Amd to add on. Most succulents such as aloe, and cacti do well in smaller terrarium that don't receive alot of light or water. They do require good light still but these are typically suggested as house plants by garden centers for a reason.

The best part of succulents is they prefer a sand dirt mix and not even a deep amount. They have very shallow roots and can be cloned by clipping leaves and replanting them. Which can be difficult in other species of plants.

Ants are life's most successful invaders. Understand and respect that power.